The goal of this research is to evaluate the contribution that recently developed techniques of cytology automation can make in the cytopathology laboratory. A prototype clinical system that employs digital image analysis of epithelial cells is being fabricated. The system will be able to perform: (1) automated prescreening for cervical cancer where "suspicious" slides are referred to cytotechnologists; (2) automated cytodiagnosis where the system estimates the proportion of each cell type present in the specimen; and (3) quantitative cytopathology where the system extracts a variety of morphological measurements from specified cells. The system will consist of a commercially available automated light microscope and a specially designed multiprocessor microcomputer for image analysis. The system will be used in parallel with manual analysis at UCLA for 1 year before being made available for NIH supervised clinical trials. Currently, the overall system design is complete and construction of the multiprocessor system is under way. A timing analysis suggests that throughput rates approaching 1,000 cells per minute will be attainable.